High performance gas turbine engines operate at very high temperatures, requiring elaborate cooling systems to protect the exposed turbine parts, including the turbine vane airfoils and platforms. However, since flowing coolant through the turbine diminishes overall engine performance, it is typically desirable to minimize the cooling flow consumption without degrading the turbine vane durability. Heretofore, the proposed solutions still generally demand higher than required cooling consumption which therefore limits engine performance.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a new turbine vane cooling arrangement which addresses these and other limitations of the prior art.